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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 2, 2018

Kevin Love

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Given the circumstances of the way Game 1 ended, how difficult is it for you, for teammates, to rebound and put all that behind you as if it never happened? Is that the process that you've learned to do in that situation?
KEVIN LOVE: Yeah, I think regardless of what went down and the nature in which we lost, you just have to move on. I guess the silver lining for us would be the togetherness and just having one another's backs going into Game 2. We know what to expect from this team. We were locked into our game plan. We never let the game get out of hand, which can happen here at Oracle when you have a 7-, 8-point deficit against them -- it goes to 15, it goes to 20, 25, and so on and so forth.

We felt like we fought hard. We continue to make big plays when we needed to. We made a two-minute game, and the last two minutes were tough for us. We made some mistakes, went into overtime and the game got away from us a little bit. We just have to have a good showing in Game 2 and come out and play our style.

Q. George Hill said yesterday it was the toughest loss he's ever experienced in his career. How can LeBron, how can you lift a guy like that or a J.R. Smith to make sure that they have completely erased that?
KEVIN LOVE: Sure, I heard LeBron mention J.R. being resilient. He always has been. He's always found a way to -- whether it's catch fire in games or play both sides of the ball or do things that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet or make a miraculous play. George is pretty strong minded that he will bounce back as well.

But it reminded me a lot of -- I was sitting there watching at the time in 2015 Game 1, went into overtime, and we know how that ended. But we were resilient, fought back and forced it to 1-1 back to Cleveland. We're hoping to do the same. But we've got to come out really in those first five minutes and show what we're capable of and set the tone.

Q. You mentioned J.R. in terms of being resilient. You guys don't have a ring probably if he doesn't have that third quarter of Game 7.
KEVIN LOVE: Right. Down 8. Right.

Q. What is the experience like, because he's had some awesome moments for you guys, but he's had some lesser moments? Have you guys had to pick him up at all the last couple days?
KEVIN LOVE: J.R. is always going to be in a light mood. You know, 24, 48 hours pass, we know what he's capable of. He knows what he's capable of. He's been in pretty good spirits. I think naturally after that loss he took it very hard.

It was the same thing with a lot of us. G-Hill is the same way. Those guys know that they can be better and that we all expect a lot out of each other. JR is one of the four guys left from the 2016 (team), as you know. And we've talked about it all season. He has that experience. He has been through several moments, either high or low, before.

The best thing he can do is just go out there and be himself. We're going to get, I would imagine, a great effort out of him tomorrow.

Q. LeBron's accuracy and volume in the mid range is way up in this postseason compared to previous years. How important is that to your offense? Yeah, how important is that to your offense?
KEVIN LOVE: It's huge. It's been huge for us. You look at him getting into the paint and scoring at such a high clip there and making miraculous plays, off balance, one leg, floaters, dunks, everything. You see the pull-up threes in transition, hitting at a high clip. But he's had a little bit of everything in this postseason. Whether it's been off the dribble, whether it's been turning the ball out on the post from the mid range or going over his right and left shoulder. He just has everything in his game and continues to work on his craft at such a high level. It just seems like he continues to get better.

Q. Have you noticed defenses treating him any differently this year?
KEVIN LOVE: This is my fourth year playing with LeBron. I think teams will try anything. They'll try anything to slow him down and to stop him. But he's been able to continue to add so much to his game and have supreme confidence in what he does in taking the floor.

We've seen it all. Teams will try anything to try to slow him down. But it's really hard when, especially in this postseason, too, he's playing at such a high level.

Q. Ty Lue was just saying you were really aggressive in Game 1, maybe more aggressive than you've been in the past. He cited you being 8-of-11 inside the three-point line. Do you feel you need to be more aggressive in this series, that more is required of you to win this series?
KEVIN LOVE: Yeah, I think to beat Golden State, I think more is required from everyone. I thought Larry Nance showed a lot of poise and stepped up big for us in Game 1, especially on this stage, being his first Finals game. I thought he was great for us. We need more of those type of efforts.

But as far as my game, I had just looked at some games in the past Finals where I had been able to get shots and looks that were there. I was 1-for-8 from the three-point line. Very uncharacteristic for me, but those shots are there.

With so much attention being brought to LeBron and him penetrating and all eyes on him at all times, the shots are going to be there for us. But there is also the extra pass and those guys are closing out hard. We have to continue to be aggressive.

Q. We've talked a bunch about this over the years about how this is supposed to be a series against the Warriors where you struggle because of matchups. At least production-wise, going back the last several games you've been there, your numbers are pretty good. So is there something that changed for you, and when do you think that was just as far as playing against the Warriors?
KEVIN LOVE: I just think it reminds me a little bit of our first series of this postseason against Indiana. I was a little banged up, especially after Games 1 and 2, and shot pretty poorly. That's just the way it went.

I think, what was it, in 2016 I was able to do a lot of things that weren't necessarily great for us on the offensive end, but did a lot of things that helped us win basketball games.

But I think just settling in, knocking down shots and just getting it going from inside the paint. I feel like you looked at (P.J.) Tucker and (Clint) Capela in the last series (for Houston against Golden State), there were so many shots and so many offensive rebounds that they were able to create extra possessions and get easy touches inside. That's just what I was trying to do and get us a lot of offensive rebounds and beat them on the glass.

Q. How important is Rodney Hood for you guys for the rest of the series, and what kind of teammate has he been since the trade deadline?
KEVIN LOVE: I think everybody that we acquired at the trade deadline has been great for us. They've shown that they want to win and go out there and compete every game. Rodney has been a little up-and-down, but he really has never wavered.

Same with Jordan (Clarkson). Same with G-Hill. Same with Larry. Those guys sometimes will get a little frustrated, but it's not for lack of wanting to be better for the team and wanting to go out there and help us win.

Everybody is going to get their chance, and they've got to be ready.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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